


what you bleed is what you break

by twistedingenue



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Kidnapping, The brothers barton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-10
Updated: 2014-08-02
Packaged: 2018-01-24 04:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1592210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twistedingenue/pseuds/twistedingenue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy struggles to focus her mind and open her eyes. Her head hurts, and everything else about her body just reads sore and wrong, like she fell asleep in a horrible position. But that can’t possibly be it, because the last thing she remembers, she was helping Jane fix one of the many pieces of beloved duct taped machinery in the van.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that this is probably more violent that my usual fare, but nothing more than you'd see in the films.
> 
> Written for an anon prompt of: How about Darcy/Clint, Darcy meets Barney in a less than pleasant way. Clint is not happy about it?

Darcy struggles to focus her mind and open her eyes. Her head hurts, and everything else about her body just reads sore and wrong, like she fell asleep in a horrible position. But that can’t possibly be it, because the last thing she remembers, she was helping Jane fix one of the many pieces of beloved duct taped machinery in the van.

Then there were explosions, which might explain why Darcy hurts all over. When she opens her eyes, though, her surroundings are a lot more disturbing. Nearly bare room with no windows, a door that doesn’t open from this side, and dear goodness, a bucket in the corner. Just fucking great.

She’s not alone either. She can feel that and it’s totally not Jane. Darcy hopes Jane got away. If Jane got away, then she’ll tell Thor that Darcy isn’t there, and Thor does not take this sort of thing lightly. 

“Well, good, you ain’t dead,” the other person says. He looks familiar around the edges, but his hair is all wrong. It’s red, and he’s got a good three or four day beard going, but she can’t shake that she might know this guy somehow.

“Feel like it,” she mutters, sitting up. Everything whirls around her, and she wants to lay back down. Darcy also feels like puking, and she doesn’t want to choke. That would be a horrible way to go.

“You’ve been out about a day,” man says, “I uh, cleaned you up a bit. The cuts and such. This place is a shithole and they hit you pretty bad.”

Her companion doesn’t look all that good either, but his bruises have layers, and the last ones look well under a day old. “Did a number on you too.”

He grins like a wolf. “You got a name?”

“Darcy,” she answers, because why the hell not. Her stomach lurches again, and she’s sure she has a concussion. She loses whatever she had in her stomach, then inches away from her mess. “You?”

“Barney,” he rolls a half empty bottle of water over to her, “ain’t got nothing to clean that up with, sorry.”

He seems —well okay, if she met him on the street, Darcy would probably pretend she didn’t see him, because he looks sketchy as hell — but right now, he’s being kind and he still looks familiar, but that might just be because everything's still a little blurry.

“Any idea who has us?” Darcy asks, opening the bottle and swirling a swig of water around her mouth before spitting it out and taking a real sip.

“Fuck if I know. One moment I’m scamming some dipstick at pool, “ she called that one right. Barney is sketchy as hell. “The next I’m being over run and waking up here.” He eyes her skeptically. “You seem to be taking this well.”

“Believe it or not, being kidnapped is not the weirdest thing to happen to me,” she says. She doesn’t feel any better, except that the world is right side up again, so at least she has that going for her. Darcy doesn’t know who this guy is, for all she knows, Barney is a made up name (it certainly sounds made up) and he’s in here to get information out of her.

Not that she knows any information. She doesn’t even really get Jane’s work. She picks up the basics as she goes, she knows what to look for in the data, but it’s Jane that does the interpretation and really figures things out. Darcy’s more of a lighthouse, illuminating the night so the real work can be done.

So okay, Darcy decides to take this guy at face value for at least a little while, “Alright, so we we were both nabbed. We got anything in common?”

Turns out, Barney pretty much makes a living at being a lowlife, so he’s got plenty of enemies. But most of them are of the king of the hill variety, not anyone that’s going to be on the same playing field as a recently vindicated and highlighted scientist.

“You got anyone that’s going to come and look for you?” Barney asks, taking a shuffling walk around the small room, avoiding the mess that’s both the bucket and the vomit. He pats the wall, looking for anything that could be leverage up to the ceiling. He might be a lowlife, but she thinks he could get up there, and the ceiling is tiles, nothing too solid.

“Yeah,” she says, “my boss’s boyfriend isn’t going to be happy that she nearly got blown up and I’m missing. Then he’ll tell my boyfriend. World of hurt coming to these guys.” It’s vague enough to refer to anyone. "How about you? Anyone looking for you?"

He jumps, throwing his fist into one of the ceiling tiles, and it shatters down on him. “Nah. Ain’t no one that’s gonna look.”

Darcy stands and peers up with Barney. Behind the tile is layers of soundproofing. “Well, that’s one avenue we can’t cross.”

“Worth a shot.”

“Right, because you miss all the shots you don’t take,” Darcy says, repeating something Clint had told her. He had laughed about it, some corporate, motivational poster bullshit that’s utterly not true. You only take the shots you can make. Everything else is wasting ammo.

Barney’s laugh comes out like he’s surprised that he can make that sound. “Thanks girlie, I needed that. Been stuck here three days. Most I’ve gotten is some protein bars, a couple bottles of water and my ass handed to me. Could use a laugh.”

They don’t talk a whole lot, but they start taking turns falling asleep, watching the door in vain hope that it will open. Darcy’s up when a little plate at the very top opens for a few seconds. Darcy jumps, trying to get a peek at what's outside, but all she sees is blinding light. Four power bars and two bottles of water later, the plate closes and latches.

Well, at least she gets to eat. And it’s at least one of the flavors she likes.

“Hey Barney,” she says, nudging his foot with a little kick. Barney wakes and skitters into a protective posture, gearing up to swing out, “Oh shit, sorry, sorry. Not wanting to hurt you. They fed us, is all.” Darcy holds out two of the bars to him.

Barney blinks a few times before accepting them. He rips open one of them, stuffing the other into a pocket on his ratty jeans.

“They woke you up a few times like that, huh?” Darcy says because she has no tact whatsoever, no brain to mouth filter. She’s a horrible person.

“Not as kindly. Kept asking about … I’m not even sure, because I mostly just heard the sound of being beat. I think they asked about my brother. I haven’t seen my brother in a decade, I don’t even know what kind of shit he’s in now.” He takes another bite, keeps talking as he chews. “Family togetherness isn’t exactly a thing for us.”

He stares at Darcy, like he’s deciding something, and demands one of the water bottles.

She’s sleeping when the door opens and five or six men, big guys, come through the door. She wakes up in time to see half of them slam Barney against the wall and hold him there.

The guy that looks at her, looks like the kind that enjoys hurting people, and he starts walking towards Darcy with actual fucking menace in his step. Darcy tries to think, but panic rises up before she can try to run, try to even say anything. Screw fight or flight, she’s a fucking deer in a car’s headlights.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Barney yells.

“I won’t hurt you if you can’t answer my questions,” Menace says with eerie calm. It’s a lie of course, he’s going to hurt her no matter what. She can see how much he wants too, how he’s cracking his knuckles in preparation.

“I’m really bad at tests under pressure.” There’s always time for sarcasm. Clint taught her that one. “I had accommodations at school and everything. My own little room for tests and everything.”

“You work for Jane Foster.”

“I don’t think that was a question.” Her back screams in pain as her spine hits the wall. That was just a push, and it hurts more than anything she’s ever felt.

“How long have you worked for her?”

Look, she’s not proud of herself. But she figures her only chance at getting out of this alive is to answer. “Three years,” she coughs out.

Menace claps her around the head, knocking her to the floor and oh, this is not good. Her hands break her fall, and she’s pretty sure something is strained. She can year Barney yelling in the background, but really, her entire world is made up of this guy and her pain.

“Will he come for you?” She thinks he says. Or something like it. Whatever it was, she knows what he means. Is Thor going to come, is he going to try to break down their walls and pull her out. Fly her away, no more kidnapped barbie doll Darcy. When she doesn’t answer, he stomps his foot in front of her.

Bending over, Darcy is pulled up by her hair, and he screams the question into her ear. Oh god, Clint is going to kill her, and that makes her laugh. Clint’s going to kill her because she isn’t answering questions that that might save her. Eyes closed, she braces for whatever happens next.

There’s a lot of scuffling, and the sounds of bones breaking. They aren’t hers. Her head drops though, relief flooding through her as her scalp recovers. She hesitantly opens up an eyelid to see Barney punching Menace bloody, and the other men slowly recovering.

“Behind you,” her voice is weak, and Barney doesn’t hear. She knows the sound of a taser when she hears one though, and she passes out.

He recovers quicker than her, and she wakes up to him wiping off blood from her head with a torn piece of his t-shirt.

“Thank you,” she says, cradling her wrist.

“You’re boss’s man got a good punch?” He asks.

“Yeah,” Darcy answers, “Probably one of the hardest, really.”

“Good. He’s gonna need it.” He points at the bucket, “Next time, you should just throw the piss at him. If we’re gonna get beat, we might as well work for it.

She’s gotta admit, the lowlife is growing on her. His sense of humor reminds her of Clint and it puts her as much at ease as she’s going to get when her body feels like it’s going to fall apart.

There’s a muffled sort of alarm. Right, sound insulation. But there’s also the sound of running in the hall and lots of crashes and slamming doors. Darcy starts freezing again, and feels tears forming because she can’t go through that again. She’s not trained for any of this and she never ever wants to be.

“Fuck this,” Barney says, and he turns towards her, “You’re gonna be okay, girlie.” As he steps back and crouches into a defensive stance again, the wall collapses. Barney reflexively pivots and folds over her, keeping rubble from falling on her.

“You really need to step away from the girl,” Clint says, and arrow aimed at Barney’s head, and Darcy does think she’s going to cry now.

“What the hell?” Barney says sitting up and looking Clint in the eye.

“What the shit? Barney?” Clint says at the same time, “Get the fuck away from Darcy, Barney.” his grip loosens a bit though when Barney holds his hands up and Darcy has enough room to run out from behind him. Clint takes a look at her, at the bruises flowering on her body, the missing hair, and the mess on her clothes, and growls, “if you hurt her at all —“

“What kind of scum do you take me for?” Barney falls in on himself. “Not that kind of guy, brother.”

Oh hell, no wonder Barney looked familiar. They are almost mirrors. Barney is even rougher around the edges than Clint, a little thicker and broader, a brawler rather than sharply skilled, but yeah. She’s surprised she didn’t see it before.

Clint lowers his bow and Darcy shuffles her way over to him. “He’s done nothing to me, babe. Kept me company, mostly.”

“I was going to have Thor airlift you out,” Clint says, looking her over, “I don’t think his way of flying is going to be good for you. We’ve got a helicopter waiting.” He turns his head back to Barney. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a family reunion, Barn. Can you run?”

“Think so,” Barney answers. It’s probably a lie. But she’s not going to put it past him anymore.

“Can you still shoot?”

“Not as well as you.”

“Who can?” Clint answers with a gruff, hesitant smile and holds out his bow, detaches his quiver and holds it out. “Don’t make me regret this.”

Barney takes the bow, slings the quiver on like a second skin. Clint picks Darcy up, and she’s never been so grateful to be so close to Clint. His lips graze her forehead. Before he takes off, she wraps her arms around his neck and just tries to breath and try to stay whole.

“I thought you said there’d be no one coming for you,” she yells as they reach the helicopter, Natasha at the controls.

“Apparently, there was a two for one special,” Barney says, shaking his head in disbelief, “saved by my little brother. How embarrassing.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had a lot of requests for a little more in this universe, and for a prompt over on tumblr, I gave just a little more.
> 
> You can find me at [](http://twistedingenue.tumblr.com>%20my%20tumbler</a>)

“Here’s what I can say for you, you sure know how to make a grand entrance back into my life,” Barney says, accidentally knocking over the bottles of water with his sling. Turns out, being able to ignore pain and suffering to deliver a sarcastic remark is a skill that runs in the family. Clint only wishes it came from their mother, but maybe she got the sass beat out from her before either of them ever came along.

“I rescued you when I was just trying to get my girlfriend safe,” Clint points out, “I think that counts as you making the surprise reappearance.”

They sit in uncomfortable silence. Darcy’s in for yet more tests, she’s been sore and disorientated for the past week, and woke up with her legs tingling and barely able to walk on her feet. Somethings not right, nothing has been right. She screams at night and curls against the wall. Barney took more a beating, more of them in general, and yet it’s Darcy that makes him nervous.

“She’ll be okay,” Barney says, almost sounding brotherly. Like they’ve picked up from just before Barney left him alone in the circus, and he’s had a rough show or some shit, “She seems tough.”

That’s thing of it though, Darcy’s not tough. Resilient maybe, but she’s more adaptable than tough, but still. She was thrown against a wall, and knocked to the floor and it’s hard to just spring up from that when it’s not your daily life.

“You know its stupid, I just worry I did something to her, cleaning her up, trying to keep her from really getting hurt. If I had let them get their licks in earlier, would they not have done that?”

Clint stands up to scoff, “Man, you’ve tried that before. You know it doesn’t matter one bit, they would have done a thousand times worse if you weren’t there.”

Barney tries to smile, but it’s fleeting, and he burrows into his chair and Clint keeps standing around, and they wait together.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find/prompt/follow me at [ my tumblr](http://twistedingenue.tumblr.com)


End file.
